Preliminary work on Rehoboth bridge project proceeding well

With construction about a year out, engineers are progressing with surveying and planning work to rebuild Rehoboth’s Wheeler Street Bridge.The project engineers, Greenman-Pedersen, submitted a progress report this week showing that supplemental survey work was recently completed, and that an existing condi...

With construction about a year out, engineers are progressing with surveying and planning work to rebuild Rehoboth’s Wheeler Street Bridge.

The project engineers, Greenman-Pedersen, submitted a progress report this week showing that supplemental survey work was recently completed, and that an existing conditions plan is nearly finished. The Wilmington-based firm was awarded an engineering contract for the reconstruction of the bridge early last month, to complete the final design and construction documents for the bridge reconstruction.

The supplemental survey work includes looking at the riverbed upstream and downstream of the culvert for use in hydraulic analysis, according to a statement summarizing the firm’s monthly progress.

“There is no established layout for Wheeler Street, so the right-of-way will need to be established from abutting property information,” said the statement, from the office of Town Administrator Jeff Ritter. “The wetlands have been flagged and picked up by the surveyors and that information has been added to the base plan.”

The Wheeler Street Bridge collapsed in March 2010, along with three other Rehoboth bridges, during heavy rains that swamped the region and caused flooding on the 11-mile Palmer River.

The total cost of the bridge reconstruction is estimated at approximately $800,000, Ritter said. The town’s share through Chapter 90 funding will be approximately $180,000, while the state and Federal Highway Administration will pay the remaining amount, Ritter said.

In its progress update, Greenman-Pedersen also told the town that the project limits will be approximately 200 feet south of the bridge, and 300 feet north of the bridge.

“The additional distance north of the bridge is to include a portion of the roadway that was damaged during the floods,” the statement said.

The firm said that “preliminary horizontal and vertical alignment work has begun.”

Greenman Pedersen’s work also includes addressing any environmental issues associated with the project, and submitting 25-percent, 50-percent and 100-percent design plans to the Massachusetts Highway Department’s District 5 office in Taunton and the Federal Highway Administration. The firm will also handle all additional construction-related engineering work, selectmen said previously.